Jasper Place Library

Location: Edmonton, AB
Year: 2012
Status: Completed
Size: 1400 m² / 15,000 ft²
Joint Venture Architects: HCMA Architecture + Design
Sustainable Certification: LEED Gold
Awards:
• Canadian Green Building Awards | National Winner (2016)
• Lieutenant-Governor of BC Award in Architecture | Merit Level (2016)
• Library Journal - New Landmark Libraries | Winner (2015)
• Architizer A+ Awards | Cultural Libraries Finalist (2014)
• Prairie Design Awards | Award of Merit (2014)
• Edmonton Urban Design Awards | Award of Merit (2013)
• World Architecture Festival | Shortlist - Culture (2013)
• International Architecture Awards | Best New Global Design (2011)

This branch library in Edmonton aspired to create an open and memorable presence in the community. The client’s goals focused upon providing a new social heart within an older suburban neighbourhood while providing a flexible building that responds to the dramatic changes taking place within the delivery of library services. The building’s functional longevity is strengthened by an open, flexible floor plan that can accommodate future reorganization and adaptation.

The library is organized by a large flexible social space that is sheltered by a column-free undulating roof form. This space incorporates a continuous raised floor that allows for flexibility over time and eliminated the need for mechanical/electrical services at roof level. The social space folds up from the ground plane to a mezzanine level, allowing for the insertion of a volume of “back of house” functions. The movement of the roof form creates differing characters and spatial conditions that help define zones of use. The overall result is an open, inviting and memorable public space that provides a strong public presence in a neighborhood that has lacked meaningful indoor public space.

The structure is a large-scale folded-plate concrete roof that spans the space by means of curvilinear folds. The roof is designed to shed water and melting snow though the resulting series of peaks and troughs of the folded plate. The large southern exposure of glazing invites considerable daylight and solar gain during Edmonton’s long winter season, while being protected from the summer sun by a range of shading strategies. The roof lowers down the ground on the east and west sides to control excessive heat gain from low angle summer sun.